First Lieutenant William Parnell was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on June 17, 1877, in the disastrous defeat of the cavalry forces at White Bird Canyon, Idaho. In that battle the troopers were outnumbered eight-to-one, and First Sergeant Jeremiah McCarthy was assigned a critical defensive position and with six men was ordered to hold it at all cost. This they did until the main cavalry attack faltered and Lieutenant Parnell ordered a retreat. McCarthy's small force was cut off and surrounded and in the panicky retreat of the main body, appeared doomed until Lieutenant Parnell and a small group of soldiers returned through a heavy fire to rescue them. Two of McCarthy's men were killed, but the remainder joined Parnell's force to continue the battle. In the fight for survival that continued, many soldiers including McCarthy were left alive on the battlefield. (McCarthy subsequently escaped after a 3-day return on foot.) First Lieutenant Parnell, at imminent peril, returned to the battlefield and rescued one soldier whose horse had been killed. Both Lieutenant Parnell and First Sergeant McCarthy were awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroism in this battle.

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